NEW YORK – The Columbia women’s tennis team lost a close match to the league-leading Yale Bulldogs, 5-2 in the Dick Savitt Tennis Center Saturday. The #28 nationally ranked Bulldogs won the doubles point and swept the bottom of the singles lineup to remain undefeated in Ivy League play. Columbia, who now stands at 11-5 overall, 2-2 in the Ivy League, had a big win in doubles, as sophomores Bianca Sanon and Tiana Takenaga upset a nationally ranked Yale duo.

Yale had two quick wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles to clinch the first point of the match. The #86 Bulldog pair of Annie Sullivan and Elizabeth Epstein beat Nicole Bartnik and Iani Alecsiu, 8-1 in the No.2 spot, while Blair Seideman and Steph Kent had a win for Yale at No.3, beating Crystal Leung and Katarina Kovacevic, 8-4.

But Columbia had a bright spot in doubles, as sophomores Tiana Takenaga and Bianca Sanon upset Vicky Brook and Amber Li, who are currently ranked #75 in the country. Sanon and Takanaga got an early break and rode it, beating the Bulldogs 8-5 at No.1.

The Lions were down 1-0 heading into singles, and wouldn’t score a team point until Yale had already clinched the match. The Bulldogs had wins at Nos. 3-6 to take the match. Sullivan was the first to strike, as she beat Takenaga in the No.6 spot, 6-1, 6-0. Kovacevic was the next to fall, as she lost to Brook, 6-2, 6-3. The match was clinched minutes later, when Kent downed Leung in the No.5 spot, 6-2, 6-3.

Columbia would win the next two points to get on the board. Sanon had an impressive win in the No.2 singles spot, where she beat Yale first-year Hanna Yu, 7-6(0), 6-4. And Bartnik won at No.1, beating Epstein in a tiebreaker that was played in lieu of a third set, 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).

The last point of the day went to Yale, as Seideman won a battle against Alecsiu, 7-5, 7-6(7), in a singles match that went almost three hours.